When the dog bites
by bloomandgrow
Summary: Maria reflects on Georg's temper in a selection of vignettes both before and after their marriage.
Georg's temper was something Maria had become quite used to and she even found it somewhat endearing, though of course she would never let him know that. She didn't know why it was that she did not find it intimidating right from the beginning. Perhaps it was because there was not even the remotest hint of violence about it. She knew others quaked when he was being icy and fierce – from hapless telegram boys, insubordinate sailors to disgruntled governesses - but it never had that effect on her.

When he had caught them singing and dancing in her room on that first night when the children should have been in bed she had responded with quiet angry defiance to his biting sarcasm - "only during thunderstorms sir." The accusation in her response was clear, rather than any sign of fearfulness. And she was able to meet his glare of cold fury head on before he was distracted by Kurt's snigger.

It was also her anger at him in response to his rage over his children wandering around Salzburg that had finally awakened him to his neglect of his children.

She knew he cherished her ability to stand up to him even when he was being his most intimidating and difficult. It had won her firstly his grudging respect and then his love. In turn she found it surprisingly easy to calm his rages since she was not frightened of them.

She recalled one time that he had lost his temper with her when she was his governess despite their new warmer relationship after the lake confrontation, or perhaps even because of it.

 _It had been her day off and of course she had been enjoying her mountain so much as usual that she was running late and she had to catch the last bus back to Aigen. It was already dark as she sat at the bus stop in Salzburg. As luck would have it, the Captain happened to drive past with Baroness Schrader in the front seat on their way to dinner at a restaurant. He stopped the car immediately, getting out, clearly angry._

 _"_ _Fraulein what the hell are you doing here in the dark in the middle of town? I hope you are not thinking of catching a bus back at this time of night?" he had asked, too furious to care that he was swearing to a postulant._

 _"_ _Well I was on my mountain today and the Untersburg kept leading me higher and higher and well I just lost track of the time…." She tried to explain but trailed off as he raised his eyes to the heavens and looked even more enraged._

 _"_ _You better get in" he bit out, opening the back door for her._

 _"_ _Oh no, really Captain, it's fine thank you. You and the Baroness are on the way to dinner. The bus will be here shortly."_

 _"_ _Get in," he repeated through clenched teeth._

 _She got in. She apologised profusely to the Baroness for the inconvenience. The Baroness smiled, gracious as ever, "Oh not at all my dear, we must keep you safe," though unsurprisingly her eyes were cold and annoyed._

 _The Captain insisted on driving her home and then he and the Baroness would go back to Salzburg for their dinner. Maria sat in the back feeling chastened, but not at all intimidated by his anger. She understood that he was so angry because he was concerned about her safety and she felt strangely touched by that._

 _She sensed his eyes on her and she looked up into his driving mirror. Their eyes met in the pools of light cast from the passing street lamps. He was clearly livid, but there was an intensity to the look that she couldn't quite understand, and she felt the breath catch in her throat and her heart beat faster. He continued to look at her for a moment and then his eyes dropped back to the road, putting his foot on the accelerator as they reached the deserted country roads near Aigen._

 _By the time they reached home, he was in such a temper that the gravel sprayed out from under the wheels as he braked in the driveway. He got out and opened her door._

 _"_ _Thank you Captain I'm sorry for the inconvenience I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening." She made an attempt to scurry off._

 _But he said curtly, "Not so fast Fraulein - I want a word with you."_

 _He leaned into the car to look at the Baroness. "Elsa, my apologies, do you prefer to wait here for five minutes while I have a quick word with Fraulein Maria or would you like to come in?"_

 _Elsa replied with warm, silky charm and a husky laugh "Take your time darling, I'll just have a little cigarette outside."_

 _He led Maria to his study. For a moment he was too angry to speak, just glaring at her. Then the storm broke. He paced furiously, hands behind his back, fingers wiggling as usual._

 _"_ _Fraulein what the h-" he bit off what he been about to say. "What on earth were you thinking? I thought you would have more sense than to be out late at night on your own. You are under my protection in my home, if you needed help coming back you should have called, I could have sent a driver with the car. Don't you realise how dangerous this is? Surely you cannot be that naïve even if you intend to live your life cloistered away. And I should add, your time-keeping is still atrocious," he put in for good measure._

 _"_ _I'm sorry sir, it was wrong of me, it won't happen again" she said contritely. He looked at her suspiciously to see if her uncharacteristic meekness was genuine. Having been on the receiving end of her gentle but provocative mockery too many times, his eyes narrowed to see if she was taking him seriously. She looked back innocently at him, but unknown to him, her lips were pressed firmly together to stop them twitching into a smile._

 _Seemingly satisfied that she was regretful, though perhaps not entirely sure, he calmed down somewhat. He blustered "Well see that it doesn't happen again." He bid her a curt good night and strode off with more apologies for the Baroness._

Maria laughed at the memory - he really was rather easy to handle when he was angry. He still lost his temper often with her and she wondered if he had also been like that with the Baroness. She could not imagine the very refined and coolly elegant Baroness being on the receiving end of his wrath, but perhaps their relationship had been on a lighter level than it was with her, or perhaps there was something about herself, Maria, that triggered his temper.

She wondered also how Agathe had managed his moods and anger. Had she kissed him, teased him, manipulated him with meekness, fought back with outspokenness like Maria? Or had she withdrawn until his mood improved or had her serenity prevented his temper from erupting in the first place? She was curious but not sure she would ever ask him that. She might not like his answer.

ooooooooOoooooooOoooooooOooooooooOooooo

Anything to do with the Nazis was guaranteed to cause his temper to ignite instantly. She remembered when he had first started to figure things out about Rolf, and she was very relieved that he had not been able to make the full connection with Liesl at that time otherwise he might have become incandescent with rage.

 _"_ _Franz."_

 _"_ _Yes sir?"_

 _"_ _Yesterday there was some blasted telegram boy here, and for some reason he was wandering about the garden. I want you to call the telegram company to make sure he does not come here again. They can send someone else. The imbecile gave me the Hitler salute - I will not have any damn 'jack-boots' in my house or anywhere on my property." There was a distinct edge of anger in his voice._

 _The Captain was ensconced behind his newspaper on the terrace so he did not see Franz's involuntary flinch at his contemptuous referrence to members of the banned Austrian Nazi party. Nor did Maria notice Franz's stoic mask slip momentarily since she was puzzling over Liesl's numerous references to a telegram boy._

 _The Captain put aside his paper for a moment, frowning and angry. "The boy was throwing stones at the children's window. He may be a friend of Friedrich's, but if so, that will have to end. I will not have any of my children associating with such mindless simpletons and violent thugs," he said curtly._

 _Franz swallowed, his cold impenetrable mask back in place, and said "Very good sir" as he melted away to follow his orders. Maria gave a small gasp of dismay as comprehension dawned that Liesl's young man must be involved in the Nazi party. She only hoped the Captain would never find out that he needed to protect his daughter's honour from a detested 'jack-boot' as he sneeringly called them, since that was likely to herald a storm of unseen proportions from him._

ooooooOooooOoooooooOooooooooOooooooo

More recently, several months after their marriage, his temper had erupted over the behavior of the boys and she had been disheartened by the change in him.

 _Maria could hear loud noises and angry grunts from the boys' room. She went over to see what on earth was going on and was shocked to see them engaged in a fierce tussle, crashing about the room. For a moment she was too astonished to react - she had never seen them have a physical fight before - they had outgrown such things long ago. "Boys," she called, "boys stop it. What is going on?"_

 _But they paid no heed to her. Georg showed up moments later and she was startled to see his face immediately slip into the cold hard mask of the disciplinarian that she had met when she first arrived. He snapped out a curt "Halt" to the boys and they broke apart straight away, panting, red-faced, upset, and, upon seeing their father's expression, fearful. They both stood at attention, stiff and straight, chests out, looking ahead._ _Maria was dismayed at how quickly they could all slip back into the old patterns of behavior._

 _Georg barked out "Report to my study. Immediately!"_

 _Maria intervened "I'll send them down in moment," as Georg went downstairs._

 _"_ _This is not like you boys - I don't understand. Come here, sit on the bed and tell me what happened," she said quietly._

 _Afterwards she went to the study where Georg was sitting at his desk, cold anger on his face. He became more irritated when he saw it was her, a muscle in his cheek moving as a result of his clenched jaw, his mouth a thin angry line._

 _His tone was clipped as he said "Where are the boys Maria? Don't try to intervene in this. Their behavior is completely unacceptable. I will not have them behave like street louts or roughnecks. I expect the utmost decorum from my sons. Do not turn them into cowards by allowing them to not face up to the consequences for what they have done. They are no longer small children who can get away with such things."_

 _"_ _They are outside I just want a word with you first."_

 _"_ _Maria, you can discipline the girls, the boys are my domain. I am their father - I know what is best for them."_

 _"_ _Well I am their mother now. How are you going to punish them?"_

 _"_ _That is not your concern. Just send them in", he dismissed her question curtly, drumming his fingers on his desk, annoyed._

 _"_ _Georg at least listen to what I have to say first. Kurt was playing with his football in their room, Friedrich told him several times not to and then the ball hit the model war ship Friedrich had been working on for days and smashed it. He lost his temper and went for Kurt. They are both very sorry, Kurt realizes he was in the wrong – he was just too young and defensive to apologise in time. Friedrich knows he should not have attacked him. And they are both most upset because they feel that you are disappointed in them. At least think about how it was when you were a boy with your brother and the quarrels you had. I am sure there must have been similar incidents."_

 _Georg was still drumming his fingers on the desk, still angry, but he was at least listening. "My brother and I were hell-raisers. When my father died, my mother was too tender- hearted to discipline us properly. She used to be in despair over our behavior. It was only when we went to the naval academy that we faced the very harsh discipline that curbed our wildness and taught us some self control."_

 _"_ _And is that what you want for the boys? You told me the academy was very brutal. Surely you could have learned the same lesson another way. You know your sons are already fine young boys who always try to do their best. This was just a mistake not a sign of bad character."_

 _"_ _Maria, I am sure you would prefer it if I hugged them and coddled them every time they made a mistake," he said sarcastically._

 _"_ _No I wouldn't, but you should trust your instincts with the boys. You have every reason to be proud of them in so many ways. And remember what it was like with your own brother. I am sure the two of you must have done things on impulse and regretted it immediately."_

 _There was a long silence as he stared at his desk, lost in thoughts and memories. After a while he sighed and said wryly "I salute you, my sweet, that was certainly a master stroke reminding me of my brother. Kurt was born long after my brother died in the war, but I named Kurt after him. Strangely, he reminds me a lot of him."_

 _"_ _You miss him a lot don't you?"_

 _He nodded silently._

 _"_ _Alright", he said, much more calmly, "send the boys in and you can stay too, to see if I am being too much of an autocrat," he said dryly._

 _She went to the door to let the nervous and ashamed boys in. As she reached for the door handle he called quietly to her - "Maria."_

 _She looked back at him as he continued "I am very sure if my mother were alive she would have loved you dearly for your soft heart, for the ferocious way you defend her grandchildren, and for making her bad-tempered son into a better man."_

 _Maria stared at him speechless, thinking that was probably the nicest compliment he had ever paid her. As he saw the tears in her eyes he smiled wryly, "Right my love, bring the boys in and let's deal with them."_

oooooooOoooooooOoooooooOoooooooOooooooo

There were times that she lost her temper with him too, but usually it was only because he went out of his way to provoke her for his own amusement, sometimes delighting in getting a furious reaction from her. Only a few weeks ago there had been another boating incident, though with a rather different ending from the first one.

 _Maria had taken the children out in the small boat again while Georg worked in his study. Confident nothing could go wrong this time, she hadn't bargained on Kurt leaning over the side shouting that he could see a huge fish. Gretl and Marta had excitedly rushed to that side to look and before Maria knew it the boat was over- balancing again. With a sense of de-ja-vu they all fell into the water again, spluttering and laughing hysterically, since it seemed even funnier the second time._

 _Kurt and Louisa sustained some gashes from the stones in the lake but otherwise everyone was fine. Maria sent the others off to get changed while she took Kurt and Louisa up to the en-suite bathroom of the master bedroom where the medicines were kept._

 _As she was dealing with their scratches and cuts, Georg appeared, having heard of the mishap from the other children and shaking his head in disbelief. He made annoying 'tutting' noises with his tongue as he looked at the children's injuries and patted them reassuringly. He went back to lean in the doorway a look of devilment in his eyes._

 _"_ _My dear, " he began in a patronizing tone, "I really don't think you should use that boat. This is the second – or is it the third time – that you have managed to tip the children into the water."_

 _Louisa and Kurt exchanged a look, immediately recognizing he was teasing her, so they stayed silent, interested to see where this would go._

 _"_ _Well that boat easily tips –" she defended herself and then stopped as he held up a condescending hand._

 _He continued, speaking to her as if she were a small child "I know that you don't have much experience with water, but I can teach you, because really we cannot continue with these accidents. Someone will get hurt. We can start with a smaller boat so that you can learn a little about balance on water, and then we can gradually work up to bigger things as you progress."_

 _There was a satisfied gleam in his eyes as he saw the annoyance flashing in her eyes at his smug condescension, while she stood dripping wet dealing with the children's cuts. He continued. "It really is terribly embarrassing that your nautical skills are so abysmal given that your husband is a sailor. I mean, really my –"_

 _Then, seeing her sudden flare of temper and that she was arming herself with the tin of antiseptic powder, he hastily shut the door with a grin as she threw it at him. It fell harmlessly against the closed door and the powder cascaded everywhere._

 _Maria put her hands to her cheeks, shocked and appalled. Bother him! Why did he have to provoke her like that - and in front of the children too?_

 _She looked guiltily at Louisa and Kurt who were staring open-mouthed in amazement, though both were old enough to recognize this was some sort of strange adult teasing rather than a genuine conflict._

 _Realizing the absurdity of the situation, Maria started laughing, and her laughter was so infectious and exuberant that the children laughed too until all three were holding their sides with tears in their eyes. When she calmed down, she cleared her throat, embarrassed and said "I'm sorry children, I should not have done that. That is not how adults – or married people - should behave."_

 _"_ _Yes, quite right," agreed Georg from the doorway, his eyes full of merriment. He had opened the door again to look at the mess on the floor and to watch them. "Your mother is still learning to control her temper," he winked at the children to show he was joking._

 _Then he continued "Right, now, if you two have had your war wounds dealt with, you had better go get changed, then go and see what the others are up to. I'll help your mother clean up this mess."_

 _As the two children went off, he closed the door and locked it, taking her in his arms, both of them laughing. He kissed a droplet of water from her neck and said "We had better get you out of these wet things and into the shower before you catch a cold."_


End file.
